At the parent teacher conferences last week, Christine and I went and chatted with Maile’s English teacher (since its an immersion school, English has a separate teacher that they meet with for ~a period a day kind of like how you might have had foreign language class growing up). Maile has been working hard on a story about her GG Kiyoko passing away – we’ve heard bits and pieces, but finally got to read the whole thing (see below). It reminded me a little bit of a project I did in preschool when my Grandma Judy passed away – I made a “family tree”-type drawing with my teacher.
Last week we had our fall school conferences for the girls. It’s always fun hearing about how the girls are getting along in school. The girls are at different stages of their educational journey so its interesting to see how the conferences change as the girls get older. For Lauren, her primary teacher is wonderful and talking to her its clear how well she knows our little girl. Lauren really seems to be adjusting well socially and the Mandarin learning is really starting to pick up steam – I have a feeling Lauren will go even faster than Maile did on account of having the support of her big sister.
For Maile, this year in second grade there was something new – mainly that Maile actually joined us for the conference and led part of the walk through providing us an overview of what she’s been learning to start the year. It was actually pretty funny because she started explaining everything in Mandarin until her teacher’s stopped her and asked, “Do your Mommy and Daddy know Mandarin?” “Oh yeah!”, Maile said and then switched to explaining in English for us. Thanks for tossing us a bone!
Maile and Mommy at Maile's parent teacher conference...
... and with Daddy too. Maile did an awesome job walking us through everything she is up to - it's going to be a great year!
(Dad note: Sorry, sorry, sorry for the slowness on the posts lately – been very busy at work and I suppose life in general!)
Grandma Gail and Papa Cal came out this past weekend for a visit and to watch the girls while school was closed the past couple of days. We had a wonderful visit (despite the Red Sox losing and ruining Papa cal and I’s enjoyment of playoff baseball!) It was a great weekend in the city – sun was shining, the Blue Angels were flying overhead for Fleet Week and the girls really enjoyed spending some quality time with their grandparents. We even managed to get a picture of the girls and their grandparents!
Maile (7) and Lauren (3.5) with Grandma Gail and Papa Cal
Thank you for visiting – look forward to seeing you again soon … this time on your turf in Hawaii!
Today is our 9th anniversary(!) – we’ll be celebrating a bit this weekend. Tonight we showed the girls our wedding video for the first time (I just recently got it digitized) and after the girls went to bed, Christine and I had a glass of champagne and looked over old posts of the girls on the blog.
This one from way back in October of 2009 gave me a good laugh…
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on September 29, 2016
A long week and definitely some “relaxing” in store as we move towards the weekend (hopefully!) – found this oldie from 2010…
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on September 28, 2016
Just in time for the debate, Auntie Elyssa sent the girls Hillary t-shirts along with a really sweet note. (Btw – well done Clinton campaign – the t-shirts are ridiculously soft!)
The girls have been wearing them with pride and we are most definitely “with her”!
Maile and Lauren joined us for the first 15 minutes of the debate, but it was still a little over their head. It is interesting what Maile seems to pick up on the playground about Hillary and Trump – I imagine a bit around the house too 🙂
A very sweet note from Auntie Elyssa to her two little nieces...
Proud to be with her!
by Papa K on September 25, 2016
For the second year in a row, we headed down to Crissy Field this morning to participate in the Aloha Run. Mommy ran the 5K, Maile ran the 1 mile and Lauren successfully defended her title in the Tot Trot ~200 yard dash!
A few friends from school joined us and the kids had a blast completing the runs and cheering each other on. Both girls did their races on their own this year – Lauren, in particular, was very focused – when Christine asked her if she wanted her to run along side her, Lauren told her to meet her at the finish line 🙂
All signed up and ready to rock!
Maile Girl on the home stretch with her friend Sophia...
Lauren all alone upfront with her support team (Sophia again!) encouraging her all the way!
The finish is in sight!
Tired, proud, girls 🙂
by Papa K on September 20, 2016
Maile’s favorite books these days are graphic novels by a woman named Raina Telgemeier – she writes/draws semi-autobiographical stories and Maile eats them up. Raina is also from San Francisco so a lot of her stories take place here.
Sisters reading Sisters
Maile’s reading is getting pretty good too – she’s slowly but surely starting to read on her own – seems like soon enough she’ll often be found curled up on the couch reading a book.
by Papa K on September 18, 2016
The newest singer in the Young Women's Choral Projects of San Francisco!
Maile had her first audition today and she passed! She is the newest member of the Prelude Chorus of the Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco. One of her classmates joined and was telling us about it last week, so we reached out and they said it wasn’t too late to audition. For her audition, Maile had to sing “Happy Birthday” and answer a few questions. She was a little nervous earlier in the week, but her music teacher at school helped her out and she went in today with a ton of confidence and did a great job.
I captured one of her practice sessions on video right before we headed over…
Choir is pretty new to us, but Maile loves singing and performing so thought we’d give it a shot. Since she’s shied away from team sports, we also thought this would be a good group activity for her to try out. Its definitely a commitment – two days a week for a couple hours at a time, but she seems really excited about it and had a blast today!
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on September 15, 2016
Maile's hopes and dreams for 2nd grade...
School is off to a great (and fast) start. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve had “curriculum nights” at the school for both girls – learning about what they are going to be up to this year.
Maile and her classmates spent time thinking about their “hopes and dreams” for the year. Maile’s?
– To play with her friends
– To learn how to write Chinese better
– To continue learning how to read
Sounds like a good game plan!
